The Themes of Night

CHAPTER 3 REVIEW OF NIGHT

3.1. The Themes of Night

According to Meyer, the definition of theme is “the central idea or meaning of a story. It provides a unifying point around which the plot, characters, setting, point of view, symbols, and other elements of a story are organized” Meyer, 1990: 196. Every book has a subject or something to discuss. Then it can be said that a theme is what the book all about. The first theme of Night is genocide of Jewish in all around Europe during the World War II. Then what is genocide? Genocide is a phenomenon where a whole population of national, racial and religious groups is wiped out both biologically and culturally. In World War II, this phenomenon occurred to Jewish. This extermination is also called anti- semitism Lemkin, 1946: 227. The Jewish were meant to be terminated by Nazi German . In 1940s, all of Jews in Europe were transported into concentration camps to be slaughtered under Hitler’s command, including Elie Wiesel and his family. The olds, the children and the useless ones were thrown to the chimney. The remained had to work very hard in the field and certain companies like slaves. They only had a bowl of soup and a piece of bread each person a day. If they became weak and useless, they would be finished. This kept happening until no one last. That evening he announced to us that henceforth no one was allowed to leave the block after the evening soup. A terrible word began to circulate soon thereafter: selection. We knew what it meant. An SS would examine us. Whenever he found someone extremely frail —a Muselman was what we called those inmates —he would write down his number: good for the crematorium Wiesel, 2006: 70. The second theme of this book is the struggle of father and son to survive. Every day in the camp, they always tried to stick with each other no matter what happened. Even when someone offered a good opportunity to Elie, all he wanted was just not to be separated from his father. It can be seen in the quotation below. One of his aides —a tough-looking boy with shifty eyes—came over to me: Would you like to get into a good Kommando?. Of course. But on one condition: I want to stay with my father. Wiesel, 2006: 48. This firmness of Elie to remain together with his father is emphasized in the following quotation. Behind me, an old man fell to the ground. Nearby, an SS man replaced his revolver in its holster. My hand tightened its grip on my father. All I could think of was not to lose him. Not to remain alone Wiesel, 2006: 30. They also shared foods and spirits. Sometimes when Elie swallowed up his ration too early, his father would sincerely give his. Thus, they remained alive for a long enough time after suffering so many things. Although in the end, the father did not make it. The bell announced that we were dismissed. We went to fetch the evening meal: bread and margarine. I was terribly hungry and swallowed my ration on the spot. My father told me, You mustnt eat all at once. To morrow is another day… But seeing that his advice had come too late, and that there was nothing left of my ration, he didnt even start his own. Me, Im not hungry, he said Wiesel, 2006: 44. Then the third theme of this book is losing faith. As the inhumanity continued to happen, Elie started asking about God’s existence. He was mad why God remained silence and chose to let the tragedy kept happening to His people who always praised His name. Then he stopped praying, but he did not deny His existence. He just doubted His absolute justice. “For the first time, I felt anger rising within me. Why should I sanctify His name? The Almighty, the eternal and terrible Master of the Universe, chose to be silent. What was there to thank Him for? ” Wiesel, 2006: 33.

3.2. Characters and Characterizations on Night